Political uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa have spread considerably since early 2011, with Thursday marking the end of the regime (and life) of Col. Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. But ETFs with a focus on the region have been falling sharply, along with oil prices, rather than moving in a more optimistic direction sometimes associated with political change.
Currently, no ETFs offer direct exposure to Libya, though several give investors exposure to the broader region.
The PowerShares MENA Frontier Country ETF (PMNA) tracks firms in the Middle East and North Africa and includes holdings such as Qatar National Bank and the National Bank of Kuwait. It was volatile this week, but generally unchanged over the past five days.